66 NORWEGIAN PARLIAMENTARY OMBUDSMAN National Preventive Mechanism ANNUAL REPORT 2016 Photo: V.Valentinavičius/ The Seimas Ombudsmen’s Representatives from a number of NPMs during the seminar organized by the IOI and the APT in Vilnius. Torture prevention in the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) The OSCE has organised several events focusing on torture prevention during the year, In March, head of the NPM Helga Fastrup Ervik gave a talk on torture prevention to the OSCE Human Dimension Committee in Vienna. In October, the first annual meeting of national preventive mechanisms in the OSCE region was held. The objective of the meeting was to look more closely at what has been achieved and the challenges that remain in the field of prevention ten years after the OPCAT entered into force. The meeting also facilitated discussion of how greater cooperation can be achieved between the national preventive mechanisms and the OSCE, and how different parts of the OSCE can provide strategic support to the implementation of the prevention mandate. The meeting was also a good opportunity for the national preventive mechanisms to exchange information and discuss other relevant topics, such as follow-up work and cooperation strategies. Competence-raising and guidance The NPM’s employees have attended seminars in 2016 in order to raise their own competence and strengthen the preventive work. In June, two employees attended a seminar organised by the International Ombudsman Institute (IOI) and the Association for the Prevention of Torture (APT) in Vilnius, Lithuania. The topic of the seminar was prevention of torture and ill-treatment at mental health care institutions. Experts from SPT, CPT and civil society attended along with representatives from a number of national preventive mechanisms. The seminar included a visit to a mental health care institution outside the city, focusing on the methods for conducting a visit. The members of SPT have been actively involved in Norway's preventive work by providing support and advice in 2016 as in previous years. The Parliamentary Ombudsman finds that it is closely followed up by and receives valuable feedback and good advice from the subcommittee in its endeavours to fulfil its mandate.